Episode 12.5

"So? What happened next?"

"The last group of children realized that they wouldn't likely get their shares of cakes as they looked increasingly anxious. While I kept handing out the cakes while racking my brain, trying to figure out what to do once I ran out of cakes."

"Un un. And then?"

"By the time I gave the last cake to the 25th kid, the four remaining kids were already on the verge of tears. But that was exactly when it hit on me."

"What did?"

"What would I do if I run out of arrows when a swarm of <Red Apes> are charging at me. Obviously. I'd throw knives at them. If I don't have a knife, even stones or sticks will do. Just, throw anything."

"Please don't tell me you threw rocks at them."

"I'm not that lacking in common sense."

"Never would have thought I would be told about common sense from you of all people."

"I smiled at the four kids. They got cramps on their faces."

"You have no idea just how destructive your smile is, do you."

"I said to them. Good job holding on until the end. I have something special to those who wait till the end."

"You just gave them more false hopes."

"Then I put my hand inside <Storage> and desperately wished. 'Give me something good'."

"You're not even trying to hide <Storage> anymore, are you."

"My right hand grabbed on a lump of jerky."

"Ah, that jerky huh. That was tasty."

"I said this to the 26th kid. Turn your hands into the shape of a bowl."

"Hum?"

"I stood up, put the jerky on my left hand and took a solid sacred silver (Lescharade) sword out of <Storage> with my right."

"You sure keep some amazing stuff."

"It's the sharpest sword I have. With a sword in my hand, my head calmed down."

"And who was it that preached someone else not to rely on their equipment recently?"

"Then I threw the jerky up in the air and swung my sword. It got cut into four pieces and fell in the 26th kid's palms. The other children who were watching cheered out."

"Nicely done."

"Then, the 27th kid stood up, made a bowl with his hand and with gleaming eyes full of expectations."

"I'm not surprised."

"I took another jerky and did the same thing. So did I for the 28th kid. I was gonna do that again for the 29th, but there was no jerky no more."

"Oh my, ran out of tricks, did you."

"I had no more foodstuff with me. Since I just cleaned up my <Storage> off food."

"How'd you get out of that tough spot?"

"Yet I fetched a rock salt when I wished for food."

<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka.com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>

"But that's not gonna work as snacks."

"I recalled something when I saw that rock salt. The color looked quite similar to an exquisite jewel I once saw at the royal capital."

"Hee?"

"I threw the rock salt up in the air with my left hand and shaved it down with the solid sacred silver sword. Then I throw the rock salt again with my left hand and shaved it down with the sword. I kept doing that over and over again. How to replicate that exquisite jewel was the only thing occupying my mind then. The next think I knew, that rock salt had turned into an exact replica, color and shape, of that jewel."

"You're really a man who solves all his problems with swords huh."

"I might have attained a new height in swordsmanship right then."

"I don't care about that. How did the kid take it?"

"I handed over the rock salt to the 29th kid and said, 'this may be sour, but it's really a tasty snack'."

"That's a lie."

"That kid said, 'No, I can't eat something so pretty', with gleaming eyes."

"Don't tell me, that 29th kid was a girl?"

"Indeed."

"Geez, you must be cursed."

"I told her. 'You'll become as beautiful as that sour snack if you manage to eat it'."

"And now you're a smooth talker."

"But then, that 29th kid said this. 'Uncle Wolf, don't you have flowers today?'"

"Flowers?"

"When I visited the orphanage before, I had some flowers accidentally stored away inside <Storage> from a gathering session in the forest, I fetched one out of thin air and gave it to her then."

"Hee. That sounds tasteful of you."

"I told her, 'I don't have flowers today'."

"That's a bit cold."

"I brought them flowers as present last time. It would be boring to do that again."

"Girls, you see, are a creature that always desires for flowers as a present no matter how often."

"What? Anyway, the 29th kid looked dejected and eventually cried out."

"Achaa."

"Then the other kids began to cry as well. Eventually all the girls ended up crying."

"Oh no."

"I told them out loud. That I will bring every girl a flower when I visit them next time."

"What happened then."

"The kids stopped crying all at once. The 29th kid said. 'Uncle Wolf, only one flower?'"

"Oh my my."

"I was probably panicking at the time. I reflexively said that I would give them two flowers each. The girls were all overjoyed."

"I can just imagine what comes next."

"The 26th kid spoke. 'Uncle, give us boys somethin' too'."

"They sure work you hard."

"I don't want to go there anymore if I can help it."

"Sheesh. Well, you have no choice in this matter. Be a man and <Roast over the burning fire>."

"What the heck is that?"

"Oh it's a folklore. An adventurer came across a Flame Wolf (Banje) in a forest, or in other words a Flame (Ban) vomiting Wolf (Je), he roasted that Flame Wolf over the flame the wolf produced and ate it."

"Flame Wolf? There's one such magic beast?"

"You're asking that? It's not a magic beast. A Divine Beast. Not Flame Wolf to be exact, but a White Flame Wolf (Slubanje). No one has ever seen one for real though. It's just a folklore."

"Just some old wives' tales huh."

"That would be it, yeah."